1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to computerized document analysis. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method of computerized presentation of a legend of object symbols on a document.
2. Related Art
The core of modern business is information, with its creation, distribution, and management being primary functions. Information or content can be presented in a variety of different ways, including word processing documents, spreadsheets, graphics, photographs, engineering drawings, architectural plans, and so forth. In electronic form, these are all generally referred to as documents, and may be generated by software applications that are specific thereto. A typical workflow in the enterprise involves various personnel collaborating to create, review, and/or edit such documents, and because of advancements in high-speed data communications and computing capabilities, these processes can involve remote personnel.
Due to the existence of many different computing platforms having a wide variety of operating systems, application programs, and processing and graphic display capabilities, it has been recognized by those in the art that a device-independent, resolution-independent file format was necessary to facilitate such exchange. In response to this need, the Portable Document Format (PDF), amongst other competing formats, has been developed.
From the user interface perspective, PDF documents are typically rendered as a static, graphical image, in which individual elements thereof such as text, pictures, and other elements are not editable. However, one of several improvements that have been made since the initial releases of PDF readers, writers, and the standard itself, is the support for adding annotations to a base document. Such annotations are graphically overlaid or “placed” on the underlying document, with placement being precisely controlled by the user. Thus, the functionality is similar to graphic illustration/design and image manipulation applications where various objects can be positioned on a document canvas by navigating a cursor to a desired location and providing a subsequent input to make placement permanent. Before positioning the cursor, the object to be placed, such as a geometric primitive, a text box, or the like, is selected.
One of the significant advantages of working with electronic documents such as those in the PDF format is the ability to store and efficiently search information embedded therein. With non-electronic or paper documents, even with the best of cataloging and other indexing tools, searching and accounting for items of information proved to be an arduous and painstaking process.
In the construction industry, a punch list is a summary prepared near the end of a project listing work not conforming to contract specifications that a contractor must complete. The work may include incomplete or incorrect installations, incidental damage to existing finishes, material, and structures, and the like. The information of such punch lists would be in relation to specific locations at a work site, which can be correlated to locations on architectural or construction drawings. In this regard architectural drawings may be annotated with such information.
Material take off (MTO) is a term used in engineering and construction, and refers to a list of materials with quantities, characteristics and/or types that are required to build a designed structure or item. A list of required materials for construction is sometimes referred to as the material take off list (MTOL). This list is generated by analyzing architectural, blueprint, construction or other design documents and determining the materials and their characteristics that are required to accomplish the design. As such, the design documents are annotated with information at various locations about a work location that is used to generate a material take off list. For example, a kitchen location may be annotated with information regarding floor tiles to be used (and may include information regarding area, linear measurements, tile type, tile weight, etc.). The material takeoff may be used to create a bill of materials. Material take off is not limited to the quantity or amount of required material, but also the weight of the items taken off. This is important when dealing with larger structures, allowing the company that does the take off to determine total weight of the item and how best to move the item (if necessary) during construction.
There is a need in the art for an improved method for analyzing documents with regard to various items and objects located within the documents in comparison to the prior art.